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Video of Cook County Jail Brawl That Left 10 Inmates, 2 Guards Injured

October 27, 2016

A video released Wednesday shows a chaotic brawl at Cook County Jail that sent 10 people — including two correctional officers — to the hospital Tuesday night.

Paramedics were called the jail’s Division 9, a maximum-security facility, for reports of multiple injuries after a jail brawl about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.

Paramedics took 10 injured people — two correctional officers and eight detainees — to three area hospitals — St. Anthony Hospital, Mount Sinai Medical Center and Stroger Hospital, a spokesman for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.

Some of those injured were stabbed, and some were battered, Langford said. Two correctional deputies were struck by food trays that were thrown during a fight, according to the sheriff’s office.

While the sheriff’s office continues to investigate what started the fights and the weapons used in them, the newly released 2½-minute video shows the melee unfold.
About 30 inmates were in the block’s common area when a fight among a group of detainees breaks out, the video shows. About six detainees take off their shirts, throwing punches.

Two minutes into the video, correctional officers storm the room, placing some of the detainees in handcuffs. At one point, an inmate grabs a lunch tray from stacks of trays sitting on a table, and correctional officers quickly throw the trays on the ground, presumably to prevent detainees from using them as weapons.

About a dozen ambulances responded to the scene Tuesday night. None of the injuries were life-threatening. Continue Reading